A Reef Tank in the Desert - +/- 1,400 gallon system

Just......WOW. I'm very late to the party, having spent the better part of today reading this entire thread. I'm about to start my first foray into your world, and to be honest, I've learned a lot of great information from yourself and those who have posted here. Of course, my planned setup will only be a fraction of what you have shared with us (I'm looking realistically at 350 to 500 total gallons) but the information all of you have provided has gone a long way to increasing my resolve to move forward but at the same time has made my wife increasingly nervous regarding the upcoming den renovation and aquarium addition. I have thoroughly enjoyed the photographs and all the highs and lows that continue to accompany your build. It is truly an amazing accomplishment.
 
Hawg Pharm said:
Just......WOW. I'm very late to the party, having spent the better part of today reading this entire thread. I'm about to start my first foray into your world, and to be honest, I've learned a lot of great information from yourself and those who have posted here. Of course, my planned setup will only be a fraction of what you have shared with us (I'm looking realistically at 350 to 500 total gallons) but the information all of you have provided has gone a long way to increasing my resolve to move forward but at the same time has made my wife increasingly nervous regarding the upcoming den renovation and aquarium addition. I have thoroughly enjoyed the photographs and all the highs and lows that continue to accompany your build. It is truly an amazing accomplishment.
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Thank you very much for your kind words.

I am honored to be your first post here on Reef Central. You are not late to the party. I feel like it is still getting started.

Start a build thread when you get going. The amount of help and resources that you will get here is unbelievable. Just make sure that you take your time with everything.

Please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance to you. Most importantly, have fun!!!
 
As always Dan....truly amazing!!!!! How much would you charge to fly to NJ and help me with my system???? :rollface:
 
Crazy_Beaver said:
I feel the same!This tank is going to look awesome when the colonies get even bigger and fill the space!
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It's happening slowly. Just like with the kids, it's fun to sit back and watch them grow. And just like the kids, they do have their moments or ups & downs now and then.
 
danfeig said:
Joe, they are my favorite fish!

The two I have now are getting along great! I have two Achillies Tangs in one of my QT's that I hope to be introducing shortly to the main display. They will be giving the Powder Blues a run for the money!
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I'm surprised to hear you have two of them getting along with each other. I will be interested to see how they get along.

Good Luck

Joe
 
SPotter said:
As always Dan....truly amazing!!!!! How much would you charge to fly to NJ and help me with my system???? :rollface:
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Steve, you are too kind!

I am actually going to be back East this summer with the family, doing the DC and NYC thing for a couple of weeks.

I am hoping that the cleaning/soaking of your rocks in muriatic acid solves your phosphate issues. I know its been a long haul for you and I have my fingers crossed!
 
Danfeig,

Your aquarium is truly stunning and I applaud you for your current success of mixing multiple larger fish (tangs etc). I also noticed your unbelievably large chunks of corals that seem to be thriving. I recently switched from an all soft coral reef aquarium to a mixed reef with a few LPS and SPS pieces. What do you keep your Alkalinity, Mg, and Calcium at to receive such success? Mine are not opening nearly as much as they were in the store. I know my alk, mg, and calc are low, so what should you suggest to keep them at, and what to use to build them up? I appreciate such documentation throughout your whole thread and if this information is already listed here, please redirect me. I will gladly tag along to enjoy your continued success as it progresses.


-Jacob
 
Eville said:
Danfeig,

Your aquarium is truly stunning and I applaud you for your current success of mixing multiple larger fish (tangs etc). I also noticed your unbelievably large chunks of corals that seem to be thriving. I recently switched from an all soft coral reef aquarium to a mixed reef with a few LPS and SPS pieces. What do you keep your Alkalinity, Mg, and Calcium at to receive such success? Mine are not opening nearly as much as they were in the store. I know my alk, mg, and calc are low, so what should you suggest to keep them at, and what to use to build them up? I appreciate such documentation throughout your whole thread and if this information is already listed here, please redirect me. I will gladly tag along to enjoy your continued success as it progresses.


-Jacob
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Thank you Jacob!

I appreciate your comments and you following along my build. It's nice to have you here!

There are so many components to keeping your corals thriving. Yes, Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium are important - but so is good lighting, protein skimming, water movement and tank husbandry. I think it is a combination of all factors!

I tested everything tonite: Calcium-440mg, Alk-9dkh (I like 10-11), Mag-1,240, Nitrates, Nitrites and Phosphates were 0 or very close to it. If your numbers are low, I would do water changes and increasing your dosing.

I dose hourly using BRS formulas. Pretty soon I will have to consider a calcium reactor, but, i've been making more concentrated formulas when I am dosing Calcium or Alk for more than 20 minutes each hour.

I also do weekly water changes of 100+ gallons and have excellent water movement.

Feel free to ask questions anytime. If I can't answer your questions, there are plenty of others following along that can!
 
danfeig said:
Thank you Jacob!

I appreciate your comments and you following along my build. It's nice to have you here!

There are so many components to keeping your corals thriving. Yes, Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium are important - but so is good lighting, protein skimming, water movement and tank husbandry. I think it is a combination of all factors!

I tested everything tonite: Calcium-440mg, Alk-9dkh (I like 10-11), Mag-1,240, Nitrates, Nitrites and Phosphates were 0 or very close to it. If your numbers are low, I would do water changes and increasing your dosing.

I dose hourly using BRS formulas. Pretty soon I will have to consider a calcium reactor, but, i've been making more concentrated formulas when I am dosing Calcium or Alk for more than 20 minutes each hour.

I also do weekly water changes of 100+ gallons and have excellent water movement.

Feel free to ask questions anytime. If I can't answer your questions, there are plenty of others following along that can!
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Awesome! and yes, I will definitely note those down and work on dosing more to raise my alk because my calcium is way too high. I've done everything to repositioning for more lighting/less lighting to more flow/less flow depending on my corals, so Alk, Mg, and calcium are the last three things I could determine to be the issue. Phosphate, nitrate and nitrite are all 0, and I am running DIY LED lighting. I also do a regular 5-10 gallon water change on my aquarium each week (100 gallon system). I'm also running a reef octopus skimmer.
 
Eville said:
Awesome! and yes, I will definitely note those down and work on dosing more to raise my alk because my calcium is way too high. I've done everything to repositioning for more lighting/less lighting to more flow/less flow depending on my corals, so Alk, Mg, and calcium are the last three things I could determine to be the issue. Phosphate, nitrate and nitrite are all 0, and I am running DIY LED lighting. I also do a regular 5-10 gallon water change on my aquarium each week (100 gallon system). I'm also running a reef octopus skimmer.
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Jacob,

It sounds like you are on the right track. What are your calcium and alkalinity levels and what/how are you dosing?
 
Quick Update

Quick Update

I real glad to see that we have our speed back on Reef Central.

Tomorrow is a big day, another FedEx Friday Deluxe! I have deliveries coming in from Seahorse Source, Live Aquaria, Avast Marine and Unique Corals!

I hooked up my old chiller to my 45 gallon bow-front and am in the process of lowering the temperature in the tank to 73 degrees. I still have the tank turning over at a decent clip to my main display and will adjust the flow to be able to manage the temperature of the 45 and not cool my entire system. I think I am going to purchase one of those small, Coralife UV Sterilizers and connect it to the feed line from my sump into the seahorse/fuge. Knowing how prone seahorses are to infections, I would like to kill any pathogens before they get into the seahorse tank. I am not concerned about the flow from the 45 gallon (which has a ton of pods) back into the sump.

I have ordered two pairs of Hippocampus kuda seahorses.

I also ordered a few different fish from Live Aquaria, another Clown Tang, Atlantic Blues and 5 Blue Reef Chromis.

Scott from Unique sent me some cool pics of a few coral colonies that I just couldn't say "No" to. He had a real nice Acropora subglabra, another blue Acro colony and a huge Green tabling Acro. In anticipation, I stopped off at the dollar store and picked up 20 packages of SuperGlue Gel.

From Avast, I mostly ordered Carbon and GFO as it's time to change out all of my media.

I will busy doing my normal Friday maintenance, along with changing out my media reactors and the canister filters on my QT's. I will also do a 100 gallon water change while I am at it.

I will try to post pictures later in the day.
 
Your friday orders sound great! i can't wait to see the new additions and the sea horses. Your tank is amazing, I like what you've done and I really enjoy seeing the progress of your tank and systems. Thanks for sharing
 
Very nice system. I like all the different tanks for different purposes that you have and how you can shut off flow to one or two of them to turn them into a qt. The only thing I would do differently is more variety of fish. I love tangs as well, but as they say, too much of a good thing... Eddie Ed
 
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